If it hadn’t already, CRH has officially joined the big leagues with its admission to the S&P 500 Index later this month.
The construction materials giant for years dwarfed most of the Irish Stock Exchange’s Iseq Index.
When it shifted its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange, inclusion in the S&P 500 was one of the key attractions to making the switch.
By getting into the index, fund managers worldwide that track the index will have to buy shares in CRH. It brings deeper liquidity to the CRH market and makes the stock more attractive than it even already was.
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“We expect that the wider investor attention from being part of the S&P 500 index will further underpin our thesis that a continued re-rating towards (and even beyond) peers is justified,” Goodbody analyst Shane Carberry said in a research note, adding his firm “believe it should be a core holding and continue to see significant upside.”
The move certainly justifies then chief executive Albert Manifold’s push to move the listing to United States. It made plenty of sense at the time and had long been expected.
After all, the company made at least a third of its revenues from the US for years. While the company has operations all over the world, that was by far its most important single market.
[ CRH shares spike to record high as group set to join S&P 500Opens in new window ]
One wonders if its success since leaving the Dublin market might turn heads at companies still listed here. After all, a number of Iseq listed companies have huge US operations.
Kerry and Glanbia have broad operations on the other side of the Atlantic, although relations with the co-ops those PLCs grew out of probably makes it a bit more difficult to move their primary listing overseas.
It also hasn’t been all plain sailing for the companies that did switch to the US from Ireland. Smurfit Westrock shares are down more than a quarter since the former Smurfit Kappa’s US listing went live in the summer of 2024.
Shares in Paddy Power owner Flutter meanwhile are more or less flat since it moved its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange in May last year. The grass is not always greener across the pond.
